I had one of the top earning months in my freelancing career in April. But May looks pretty bleak right now. In some ways, I am a bit relieved and could use a slow few weeks. I worked six straight weeks with only one day off and worked till 10pm most nights. So I’m okay with a slow May, but with kids heading to college, I am worried about a slow June, July and beyond. 

My gut is that most businesses are holding off to see what happens with reopening and the economy. I believe that the next few weeks will make it clear what direction we are going and give us a better picture of our new normal (I hate that phrase but couldn’t figure out a better one). I think that, in the niches that are going to continue strong, such as tech, the work will pick back up pretty quickly. But right now, companies just aren’t sure what messaging and content to produce so they are holding back. 

Yes, it may be a slow couple of weeks. But it will turn around. I’m not sure when, but by making smart moves now you will be in the right place to get assignments and hopefully new clients.  However, I think that working picking back up will be slow and uneven – meaning some businesses will have work while others won’t. 

As freelancers, we must cast a wide net right now. This means reaching out to as many businesses as possible and keeping in touch with as many contacts as possible. Once a company begins marketing again, then you will be top of their mind and hopefully land the work. I don’t know which of my clients or contacts are going to be the ones that have work for me next week so I need to keep in touch with as many people as possible and reach out to as many potential clients as possible. 

Here are seven things to help you find assignments and (hopefully) new clients:

1. Create a plan. Instead of panicking, sit down and create a plan. Your efforts may not fix your calendar right away, but the plan will put you in position when things start to turn around. But instead of just throwing out a bunch of darts, your results (and your sanity) will be much better if you come up with a plan of action. I highly recommend using my January Roadmap as a guide. Because Week 1 is about setting 2020 goals, start with Week 2 and create a plan that works for you. And even if it’s a slow few weeks, you will feel better knowing you are taking actionable steps to get work. 

2. Stay in touch with current and past clients. Many of you got thousands of dollars in work when the initial crisis hit by reaching out to your clients. While that initial wave has dried up, the same concept applies. The work will pick back up, possibly pretty soon. Claire McDermott said in a recent ASJA webinar that I hosted that companies are more likely to turn to existing freelancers than new ones right now, and I agree. And by staying in touch then your clients will have you on the top of their mind. With current clients, I have been telling them that several of my regular clients have paused due to COVID so I have availability. While I wouldn’t frame it that way to new clients, it works well for me with clients I have a relationship with. 

3. Look for a tech niche. I’ve been repeating this whenever I can for years and it’s even more true now – strongly consider finding a tech niche that you enjoy. Tech pays higher but also is almost too big to fail overall because our entire lives are powered by technology. And now with social distancing likely a reality for a while, tech has been keeping our businesses going both in remote work and delivering products/services virtually. 

Check out this post on how to find a tech niche. And even if you aren’t techy, that’s okay. Find companies marketing to an audience you know, such as healthcare IT or retail tech. For the most part, you are will be writing for nontechnical people so what’s important is knowing the audience. You don’t always need to know the technical details – and if you do, there are super smart people in the company you can ask. 

If you have dabbled in some technology, such as in a niche, look through your clips for technology concepts you have written about. For example, perhaps you wrote about IoT sensors for hotel rooms or artificial intelligence for human resource departments to screen resumes. Or perhaps you’ve written some cybersecurity articles for small businesses. You can use these clips to target companies that need IoT, security and AI expertise in general and even use those clips to move into another niche.  I cannot stress this enough – if you have these clips and you don’t use them, you are leaving money on the table. 

4. Keep sending LOIs. Yes, it’s totally fine (and a good idea) to keep sending LOIs. Remember, your goal with an LOI is to build a relationship with a company so that when they have a need that they will hire you. Because people are still working from home, many people are reading and responding to emails that they may have previously deleted. I highly recommend using my 5(ish) sentence LOI as a base because editors don’t want to read long emails, especially now. Your LOI is a pickup line so don’t be tempted to have the whole first date in the email. 

5. Follow up. I think my advice that you are leaving money on the table if you don’t follow up on LOIs is even truer now than ever. An editor may not respond to your LOI now because they don’t have a need, but if you follow up in 3 weeks, they very well may have a project. Check out my posts on following up  here and here. 

6. Target companies that host in-person events. Live events simply aren’t happening right now. And most (if not all) are cancelled for the year. But companies budget a crapton of money for hosting the events, which means that many now have extra marketing money. And now they want to use that money (or at least some of it) to help keep business going. Several writers have mentioned their clients who cancelled events are now ones with a bunch of work. Consider specifically targeting companies in your niches that you know typically host in-person events. 

7. Stay in touch with writer friends. Because some companies are going to need writers while others will still be waiting, your writer network is invaluable right now. You can share gigs that aren’t a fit for you with writer friends and they will likely in turn do the same for you. A few of my writer friends have been meeting weekly over Zoom to check-in with each other and offer support. I can’t express how much it has helped, both with practical ideas for where to get work and knowing that I’m not alone. Consider organizing your own writer small group with your writer friends or at least find an accountability buddy. 

But don’t be tempted to reach out to writers you don’t know well and ask for their contacts. Most writers find this a bit frustrating. Someone once gave me the great advice that you don’t want to start a relationship with “an ask”, and it’s a great rule to live by. The best way to get leads is to share leads with other writers when you run across a gig or have a project that might be a fit for them. 

Yes, it can be stressful to have an empty calendar. But by taking proactive actions and staying persistent then you can be in the best possible position to get the assignments available right now and new ones as they come along. You can do this. I promise. 

Which strategies are working for you right now? Share your advice for other writers in a comment.